Inserter systems capable of generating over 10,000 mail pieces per hour are well known in the art. Generally, inserter systems are used by organizations such as banks, insurance companies and utility companies for producing a large volume of specific mailings where the contents of each mail item are directed to a particular addressee. Additionally, other organizations, such are direct mailers, use inserters for producing a large volume of generic mailings where the contents of each mail item are substantially identical for each addressee. Examples of such inserter systems are the 8 Series.TM. and 9 Series.TM. inserter systems available from Pitney Bowes, Inc., Stamford, Conn.
In many respects the typical inserter system resembles a manufacturing assembly line. Sheets and other raw materials (other sheets, enclosures, envelopes) enter the inserter system as inputs. Then, a plurality of different modules or workstations in the inserter system work cooperatively to process the sheets until a finished mail piece is produced. The exact configuration of each inserter system depends upon the needs of each particular customer or installation. Thus, the typical inserter system may include such modules as: various web handling modules (slitters, cutters and bursters) for separating the continuous forms of a web into singular or discrete sheets, a sheet feeder module for feeding individual cut sheets, an accumulator module for assembling the sheets into a collation, a folder module for folding the collation into a desired configuration (Z-fold, C-fold, half fold), a conveyor/staging module for transporting and queuing the collation, a plurality of enclosure feeder modules for assembling and adding a packet of enclosures to the collation, an insert station module for inserting the collation into an envelope, and a control system to synchronize the operation of the overall inserter system to assure that the collations are properly assembled.
Devices are known which turn collations or sheets within a plane. These devices are often utilized in inserter systems to change the orientation of the sheets (for example, landscape to portrait and vice versa) so as to facilitate further downstream processing. Another application for turning devices is in merging sheets from a first stream of sheets into a second stream of sheets. Examples of turning devices utilized in inserter systems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,909,374, 5,180,154, 5,180,159, 5,188,355 and 5,413,326; all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Such devices are commonly referred to as a right angle transport (RAT).
The RAT accepts a sheet from an upstream module and feeds the sheet to a downstream module. Typically, the RAT includes a first feed means for feeding the sheet in a first direction, a second feed means for feeding the sheet in a second direction and reorienting means. The reorienting means redirects the sheet from the first direction to the second direction by transferring the sheet from the first feed means to the second feed means. Although these prior art RATs generally work well, they are expensive to manufacture and take up a lot of space. Therefore, they are not well suited for all applications.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for receiving a sheet from a first direction and feeding the sheet in a second direction without using a feed means in the first direction so as to reduce cost and size. Additionally, the apparatus and method must be capable of handling single sheets, booklets, a plurality of folded sheets and other sheet configurations without operator adjustments so as to reduce operating costs and setup time.